warriorsfanficfandomcom-20200213-history
Everlasting Drought
everlasting drought a fic by stork preface "Pale lines of my heart," "Everything got shattered in the dark." "Tried to be evolved," "Does it really matter at all?" - Hayley Kiyoko, "Molecules" The drought hit the Clans worse than anything they'd ever seen. Some cats developed heat-related illnesses and couldn't resist the burning sun. However... similar to the three, from legend... It was theorized that there was a sense of... dualism. Like something was off balance. One, more dominant than the other. But how exactly does one explain dualism in the Clans... ...when it doesn't seem to have ever existed between them? That's where I am. one - yin The sun burns my fur as I'm walking. It's painful, since my fur is a deep, bramble-like brown, but it doesn't really bother me. My paws burn as I find the edge of the Clan's territory - MountainClan's. To me, this Clan is about the closest thing to home that I'll ever get. Sometimes I'm treated well, and mostly, they don't mind me, unlike most rogues. Probably because of my relationship to them... My mother named me Shuǐ. I don't know what exactly I'm doing with a name like that, considering nobody has a name like mine, but I haven't really questioned it. Anyway, my mother was a Clan cat - a leader, actually, of MountainClan. With her nine lives to spare, she managed to pass a few down to her kits - so one of them was to me. Many didn't know she was expecting when she became leader - didn't ask when she went off by herself to the Moonwhatever to ask StarClan for answers, didn't question her when she showed up a few days later with two of her kits. You heard me. Only two of them came home. There were more from her, and that's about where I come along. My mother's secret was how many kits she had as well as their own birth. When I awoke, I found myself alone, cold, and utterly hungry. I don't remember exactly how many siblings I had - it was somewhere between four and five - but I do remember her face. She looked at us all, shocked to her bone. Something had changed in her mind when she bore me and my siblings. The two that went with her received Clan names - Sparrowkit and Puddlekit. The rest of us had names that nobody understood but my mother. When Sparrowkit and Puddlekit were approaching six moons, I found my mother. I hadn't seen her or any of my siblings in so long. "Shuǐ... it's you." "How do you know my name?" I was shivering - I didn't know her. "S-Stay away from me -" "I know you because I named you." Her face had sunk with sadness and anger. "Do you not remember me, Shuǐ?" "Of course I don't!" I'd not seen her since I was a newborn - of course I didn't remember. "You were a secret," she growled. "All six of you were secrets. Only two of you ever made it home." Something had changed in her. "Do you even remember who they were?!" At this, she attacked me, pinning me to the ground. "You all... were the worst kept secret in the Clan! Everybody knew about you all and expected me to come home crying out in pain. I wasn't going to let that happen - do you know how queens are seen in MountainClan?!" I didn't, but I threw her off anyway, not wanting to anger her anymore and just wanting to get away, but it wasn't going to be so easy. "Queens," she sighed, "are looked down upon. Ever since this stupid drought started, queens have been less common." She readied a charge, but I was ready for it, and I jumped out of the way. "It had started before you were born. Trees, dried up. Everything going wrong. Finding myself expecting was the worst decision I'd ever made, and your father - I blamed him for it all." She showed no sorrow, no sadness, only hard-pent hate. "My pregnancy becomes visible and I can't take it - grumbles from everyone. I fled so I wouldn't face it. All of you were born and I couldn't take it anymore." In my fear, my instincts took over. "So, Shuǐ... you were a mistake. All of you were." A mistake. I charged straight for her. Some new power had awoken inside me when she said that. I took her life out of her paws. The remaining ones, at least - I couldn't watch her die, but I know she was killed. And I ran. I stopped only when the blood had dried on my fur and I could wash it in the small, but raging, stream, near the edges of territory that MountainClan claimed. I moved on and never looked back. Never once have I regretted killing her. When I enter MountainClan territory, I can immediately smell my sister, Sparrowfrost. “Shuǐ, is that you I smell?” She steps out. Similarly colored to me, only lighter in color and much less bramble-like. “What are you doing here in the drought? I swear you would’ve been out of here by now -“ “You would’ve thought wrong.” She analyzes my state, as do I with her. “You look a bit thirsty, sis.” “As do you. How’ve you been? Applestar has been doing well since Mother died.” That’s critical - we don’t mention my mother’s name between the siblings. Sparrowfrost knows how much it upsets me; most of my other non-Clan siblings (when I knew them) refused to acknowledge her as well. “Managing. Have you heard anything about this drought relieving anytime soon?” I ask her that with a bit of hesitation in my voice. I don’t believe in any of the “StarClan” that the two Clans here do. “I was just about to mention how Puddleshine said she and Flashbreeze were going to consult them for answers.” Puddleshine is the other sibling of mine who made it here - I have one more sister, and two brothers. “I hope they find answers.” “Let’s hope so.” I study Sparrowfrost a bit longer. “Is there anything else I should know about?” “Opinions on queens have changed.” I perk up - this was why Mother was so upset. “They’re still looked down upon, but with much less harsh penalties since several cats have died due to this heat. So... with that... I’ll let you in on a little secret.” “Please don’t tell me you’re expecting.” “Expecting? I don’t know.” She shrugs. “You best know that I take care of myself, unlike probably some cats out there.” Her eyes go dark as she and I think of the same thing - Mother’s reaction to us. We were young, but we both know her gaze. “However... eventually, maybe it will happen.” “Don’t even.” “Yes, even. Weirdest event like that for us was when Puddleshine -“ “What about her?” Her eyes go dark and her ears flatten. “At one point, Puddleshine was expecting too, I think. Soon it became too obvious - but as nobody could hold the medicine den or take in her kits, she had to bear them herself.” “Why do you all do this?” I ask her calmly. “Why reproduce in a world that really doesn’t seem to like you? Aren’t you putting your kits into more pain?” She shrugs. “I guess it’s something about it all. I don’t know - I’m not an all-seeing genius.” “I didn’t assume as such.” I think calmly about Puddleshine; my siblings and I are barely a year and a half. “Have you seen anyone else? From our sibling group, I mean?” “Not anyone I know of.” She licks a paw and rubs it behind her ears. “Though there’s always FeatherClan, who’re on the other side of the dried pines.” “The dried pines?” “To the west of here.” Her tail flicks in the direction, opposite of where I came. “There are some cats over there that Puddleshine and Flashbreeze meet with.” She sighs. “I hope they can find a solution to this drought. It’s hard when everything is all dying.” I think quietly to myself on possible solutions for a minute. “Have you all considered leaving?” “Where would we go?” “Wherever they told you, I guess.” “They’re usually very clear about where.” She continues to wipe the dust off her fur. “We’ll have to see for ourselves when the medicine cats return.” “Yeah, I guess.” Her gaze casts gently toward me again. “Have you seen anyone else? From our siblings?” “Like?” “Tàiyáng, or Hánlěng, or Qínglǎng?” She names all of our siblings in succession. “As far as I know, they’re all gone.” Qínglǎng said to us that she was going to find something new when we separated; as for Tàiyáng and Hánlěng, I haven’t seen either of them since we were kits. “Do you think some were in FeatherClan?” “Our siblings? No. No way.” “Do you doubt us?” I catch her eye. “You and Puddleshine made it. Who’s to say our other sibling didn’t either?” She thinks on this. “If it was anyone, it was probably Tàiyáng or Hánlěng. I can’t imagine seeing Qínglǎng there.” As she said so, none of us have seen Qínglǎng since - but then again, I haven’t seen anyone besides Sparrowfrost and Puddleshine. “Do you think they remember us all?” “All of us? Yeah,” I reply. “We were all born together and stuck together for three moons before we all separated - minus you and Puddleshine, you cowards went early.” I tease her quietly, and she scoffs in response. “Well, Shuǐ,” she sighs. “I should get going; I want to wish Puddleshine well on her way out. Find me later and I’ll tell you what news they have.” “See you, Sparrowfrost.” This is how it’s been for nearly a year. two - yang Sparrowfrost returns home with a newfound light in her eyes, like she’s seen something exciting. “Guess who I saw!” “Shuǐ?” She trots into the medicine den, smiling from ear to ear. “Yep! She’s nearby.” “How is she doing?” “Thin and tired like all of us,” she sighs, “but recovering. Like all of us, she’s looking for a solution to this drought.” “Tonight I consult StarClan for answers.” I’m kind of upset with myself as it stands, so not only will I be going for Applestar, but also for myself. “I must ask them about this drought, and how we can fix it. End it.” “Mhmm.” She inspects me gently. “I.. may have mentioned your kits to her. And all that you were allowed to do.” “Shuǐ wouldn’t tell a soul, would she?” She doesn’t immediately respond. “Would she?” I repeat, forcefully this time. “No. She wouldn’t - or I swear I would hunt her myself.” She stares at me gently, looking as though she’s theorizing something. “You’re almost due, right?” “These kits?” I stare back. “Yes, but -“ “Can only Flashbreeze go?” Her eyes travel up to face me. “He can tell you, right?” “He’s the main cat alright, but it won’t stop him, just like this hasn’t stopped me.” She doesn’t know that these kits are his. “I just hope you’re not like Mother. Six of us was challenging for her.” She breathes in the scent of the medicine den and queen-scent. “Can you at least estimate?” “I don’t know how to estimate, frankly.” Flashbreeze is lucky not to be here; he told me he would get herbs ready and went out to get more. If he was here, he’d probably be making his own assumptions on how many I will have. “Mainly, it just feels heavy.” Sparrowfrost holds in a scoff. “I think I hear Flashbreeze returning, so I’ll leave you two alone.” As she says it, I can hear him. “Puddleshine, are you ready to go?” He steps inside the camp, calling for me. "Puddleshine?" He walks up and inspects me gently. "Your kits -" "Don't. Even." He blinks in shock at me. "I'll be okay." Sparroowfrost, from beside him, excuses herself quietly, and he flicks his tail. "If you're okay, let's go." I lap up the herbs he's gathered and we both exit camp. We walk in silence, though I can't think solely about the drought. I think gently of how the drought has made us all thinner, which only makes me stand out. I can't tell anyone about the secret we kept. Flashbreeze took me out of camp when I was an apprentice. He wasn't that much older than me - only medicine cat for a few moons before his mentor had died. He told me that no matter what, he'd always be there for me. Nobody'd really said that to me, so I developed trust for him. Trust turned to feelings, and feelings turned to me becoming pregnant, a moon and a half ago. To be honest, I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised; I trusted him more than anyone for a time. With my siblings gone and Sparrowfrost taking an entirely different path than I, it’s hard not to get lonely. When we get to the Moonrock, Flashbreeze approaches it with a certain step in his paws, like he can’t wait to get it done. I don’t exactly share his enthusiasm - afterall, it’s sort of uncomfortable to sit like that - but I follow suit anyway. I touch the cool stone gently, and at first, I don’t feel anything but the coolness of the stone and the warmth that I’m giving off. Then it begins. Six. Six little kits sit in front of me, eyes wide, confused. For a moment, I think it’s us; I can see one that looks like Sparrowfrost. Then I realize that I can see myself in the pool below me, and I don’t know if they’re mine or not. Six. Six total images reveal from the kits. Black for one, white for the other, and not gray. “What does this mean...?” “It means...” A ghostly voice - it sounds like - “Your curse will continue...” “Mother!” I can’t see her, but I can hear her. “What does this mean, Mother?!?” “The curse started with me.” I still can’t see her. “It continues with you. Destroy them - destroy them all!” “Mother, what does it mean?!” “Destroy them all...” I wake. And I’m screaming in complete pain. Flashbreeze is at my side, and I’m still screaming. He’s shoving things in my mouth to shut me up but I’m still yelling. I scream as the first is born. I feel exhausted by the last one. Six of them sit by my side, just like Mother. He’s just staring at them when I’m recovering, but I don’t feel good. Is this what Mother felt when she had all six of us? “That’s... a lot,” he murmurs, inspecting them. “You weren’t due for a few weeks, weren’t you?” It occurs to me that I should tell him what’s happened. “Hey, I meant to tell you earlier, okay? But by the time I told you, I was already closer.” “You’re okay, right?” He stares, and I can nearly see his whole thought in his mind. “I don’t want to tell them that -“ “Then don’t.” His eyes grow wide. “Don’t tell them, then.” “How do I explain them?” I’m actually a little frustrated; I don’t exactly know how to deal with it myself. “I’m gonna move with them. Take three in your jaw and I’ll do the same. By the time we reach home, they’ll be starved.” He nods, and we begin the trek back. Upon our arrival back, the camp rushes to see me, and my six kits get awry looks from the Clan. “Leave them alone,” Flashbreeze growls. “Unless you’re personally dealing with them, stay away.” Somehow, something is wrong, and I think we can all feel it. three - mistaken When Puddleshine comes home, I’m shocked to see her; I didn’t think she was gonna go and return with six kits. Six. My name is Sparrowfrost. What many don’t know is of our little curse. Cats work as a yin-yang formation. The imbalance creates distortion; not many have that distortion though. Mother told me that she hadn’t ever seen it in anyone besides us. But what makes it so cursed, she told me, isn’t that there’s distortion in them; it’s an imbalance that messes us up. Mother was a gray area. She held a lot of it; the first cat with the distortion in decades. She had ups and downs and everything in between, but something about us brought out the imbalance. My mother was alive and found herself pregnant. When Shuî killed her, it released into us - or at least that’s what I was told. She maybe lied. I don’t know. A moon and a half has passed since Puddleshine came home. I haven’t seen any of my siblings and neither of the medicine cats have told us anything since they came back. Not even Applestar knows what they did. However, that is less important; there is someone I like. I approach him gently, waiting for him to wake up. “Nightstripe!” I prod him gently. “Sleepyhead, come join us.” He shifts, and his shiny jet-black fur reflects in my face. “Come on, lazy bones - today’s important!” He groans. “What’s so important that you have to wake me up so early...?” “Flashbreeze has something to say.” He hears this and immediately shakes off his sleepiness. “After their trip a moon and a half ago? What took them so long?” “If I knew, I would tell you,” I mutter back to him, a slight flirtatious tone in my voice. “Now let’s get going; Flashbreeze looked pretty anxious when I saw him last.” When we step out, Applestar has already called the Clan. I can see Puddleshine’s head and her six little ones all trying to escape the nursery, and her struggling to hold them back. Flashbreeze has a strange look in his eyes; I can’t tell what they mean. “Cats of MountainClan, Flashbreeze has an important message to pass on.” The black and white tom clears his throat. “Good morning. The reason why I’m up here... is because I have found the cause of this drought.” Murmuring starts in the crowd, and Applestar is forced to silence them. “Listen, all of you.” “In this world,” Flashbreeze explains, “there are cats who represent two sides of the same equation. Think of a tree; sometimes it is shady, sometimes it is sunny. It is in balance.” “Now... think about what happens to that tree with the endless sunlight we have.” Gasps, as cats realize the reality. “An imbalance occurs.” He pauses, closing his eyes briefly. “What StarClan has told me is that a concept like that exists in some cats here and around the area today... and they have been causing these imbalances in the world.” “But who would it be? Would they even know about it?” Silverwind - of course she’d try to ask that. “How would we know that they’re an imbalance? It could be anyone we know, from what you’re implying.” Flashbreeze shushes her. “Let me finish.” He clears his throat. “When StarClan told me of this, they didn’t tell me what to look for. However... they showed me Moonstar.” Mother?!? “Something related to her has caused our situation. Anyone remember anything mysterious about her?” He glances over his shoulder. “Applestar, do you remember when the drought started?” “Yes, actually...” He’s thinking. “It was a few moons before I saw her expecting, I think.” “That’s where it begins, then.” Flashbreeze is thinking about it as well. “When Moonstar came home, she’d said all her kits had died. However... something makes me think they didn’t all die. She must’ve faked them.” “Who would be her children?” “Is it someone here?” “Where would they be?” “Silence!” Applestar yells. “Let him finish.” “I have no idea where Moonstar’w kits would be.” Flashbreeze is still trying to tie this together. “However, if you know of them... kill them. The only way to cure the imbalance is to kill it at its core. There were six, from what StarClan told me.” I cast my gaze over to Puddleshine to observe her reaction, and she’s had the same scared look I hold faintly in my eyes. Nervously, I watch her wrap her tail around her kits, her gaze flicking to me for a mere second. “Flashbreeze,” I call, “if one of them were here... what would you suggest we do?” He has to think about this. “Are you implying that you know someone here who is a kit of Moonstar?” “Absolutely not.” I hold his gaze; I won’t let the confrontation intimidate me. “I’m merely asking so we can take action, provided someone is one.” I promise to myself, then and there, that I will never let them rot me out. “We’re gonna take action, of course. Probably exile them.” “And what if that doesn’t work? To end the drought?” I hold my ground; nobody will stop me here. “What will we do then?” The Clan is silent except for the small whispers in the crowd. Even Nightstripe has moved away from me - probably thinks I’m cursed now, which makes my ears burn. “We will leave.” This time, Applestar says it. “There is no other option, so we must leave if it gets worse. But we have to trust in our ancestors to guide us, and this is how they have chosen to do so.” He prods Flashbreeze. “Flashbreeze, have any suggestions when we’re lookibg for the involved cats?” The medicine cat clears his throat. “Yes, actually. Some of them are obvious; two of them looked none like us and I couldn’t make out their names, but they weren’t Clan-like. The rest... you all have to discover for yourselves.” With that, Applestar dismisses the Clan, and Nightstripe calla me out of camp. “Are you one of them?” His voice shivers at “one.” I don’t respond, because no matter what I say, I will be lying. “Are you?!” He’s nervous... oh no. “Is this why crazy stuff has been happening to me?! Every time I’m with you we end up seeing something weird, or you do something completely out of the ordinary, or -“ I can’t defend myself. There is no way to argue that my pedigree - my relation to her - isn’t true. He’s about had it, and he’s angered now. “You’re a seriously weird cat, Sparrowfrost. But now I see the truth. Stop hiding.” Someone pieced it all together before Flashbreeze did, and it was him. I still don’t give in, but at this point I know what awaits me. He snarls at me. “You leave me no choice. I’m sorry Sparrowfrost, but...” His claws unsheathe, and I’m very tempted to defend myself, but if I do, I may kill him, and if the ultimate goal is to kill Moonstar’s pedigree, then this is what must be done. “Let my death be a sign.” He’s pinning me down, and I know what he’s going to do. “A sign that I would give up my life if it meant my Clan got to live on.” That’s a lie - I care more about my siblings now more than ever, and I’m so worried about them. Puddleshine, Shuǐ, Tàiyáng, Hánlěng, and Qínglǎng, please stay safe, and stay alive. The thought escapes before I feel Nightstripe’s claws dig into my neck. tbc c: